European Parliament and Council ratify climate deal

Countries moved after being reassured the fast-track procedure won’t set a precedent.

The Council of the EU formally adopted the bloc’s ratification of the Paris climate agreement Tuesday, hours after the European  Parliament did the same, pushing the global climate pact into force.

The EU’s ratification will bump the Paris agreement past the minimum threshold needed and ensure that it enters into force by the first day of the COP22 climate summit in Marrakesh on November 7. The agreement takes effect 30 days after it has been ratified by 55 countries covering 55 percent of global emissions.

Before the EU’s decision, the agreement had been ratified by 63 countries covering 52.11 percent of global emissions. The EU’s approval will count for the seven member countries that have so far ratified it — France, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia and Malta. Their emissions are enough to put the total above 55 percent. The remaining states will ratify “as soon as possible,” the Council said.

“The Council’s adoption of the decision in just a few hours illustrates our commitment to keeping our promises,” said László Sólymos, environment minister for Slovakia, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency. “The deposit of the ratification instruments on Friday will finally round off the whole process.”

The Council moved immediately after the climate agreement was approved by the European Parliament in a 610-38 vote.

“One year after its adoption in December 2015, this is a massive achievement,” Parliament President Martin Schulz said before the Parliament’s vote in Strasbourg. “The European Union once again has shown itself to be a powerful leader.”

Solymos and Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete are set to deliver the documents to the U.N. in New York this Friday.

Up until a few months ago, the EU was expected to ratify the deal in the first half of 2017 — already a tight timeline, as a number of member countries wanted to finalize their emissions reduction obligations up to 2030 before joining the agreement.

But as international momentum grew in September, with the U.S., China and a host of other countries submitting their ratifications, EU officials grew concerned that the agreement would come into force without the bloc.

A novel approach

Slovakia and the Commission pushed for a shortcut to speed up what would have otherwise been a laborious ratification process in which all 28 member countries would have to approve, plus the Council and the European Parliament. Instead, member countries allowed the EU to proceed without national ratification.

However, fast-tracking ratification did create concern among some EU countries, which worried the process could set a model that could be applied to other international treaties. In order to win consensus for the procedure, countries wanted assurances that the Paris shortcut would be “unique,” have no implications on how decision-making responsibilities are divided in the bloc and would not affect EU countries slower to ratify.

A joint statement drafted by the Commission and the Council aimed to assuage those worries, saying the Paris ratification “cannot be interpreted as a precedent.” It added that the process would also not affect the “division of competences” or prejudge the role of parliaments. Lagging countries will also not be left out of the EU decision-making process during climate talks.

This article has been updated to include the Council approval.